‘Not On My Watch’: Crime Stoppers Chief Eats Document Instead of Handing it Over to Judge

Concerned that a document demanded by a Judge would compromise a tipster’s identity that led to a drug arrest, Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers Executive Director Richard Masten ate it instead of handing it over to a judge.

The executive director of Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers is facing up to two weeks in jail on a contempt of court charge for stuffing an anonymous tip in his mouth instead of handing it over to a judge Friday.

Richard Masten was appearing before Judge Victoria Brennan when he refused to share information related to a tip in a cocaine possession case. Instead, he ate the paper containing the tip while sitting in court.

“We promise the people who give us information to solve murders, serious violent crimes in this community, that they can call with an assurance that they will remain anonymous and that nothing about them or their information would ever be compromised,” he said. “The case today started creeping into that… it’s not going to happen on my watch and I understood the consequences.”